Post navigation

Over lunch, Mayor Annise Parker told the audience touching personal stories of her own children adopted out of foster care. We are now enjoying 7 amazing breakout sessions over 3 hours. Only 2 more hours until the conference concludes!

Frankie Guzman, a Soros Fellow at the National Center for Youth Law, starts off this morning’s session with his life story of overcoming years in juvenile prison in California and later attending Berkeley and UCLA Law. Most striking to me was the disparity in armed robbery sentences that he received as a Hispanic man (15 […]

After lunch, the 12th Annual Zealous Advocacy Conference continued with Kim Dvorchak giving an uplifting update on juvenile law legislative changes around the country, focusing on the ability of juvenile defenders to advocate for change in their home states. Both David Domenici and Kim Dvorchak recommended the National Conference of State Legislatures: Trends in Juvenile […]

The 12th Annual Zealous Advocacy Conference began on a strong note with David Domenici speaking about the success he has had with the Maya Angelou Academy that serves D.C.’s incarcerated youth. The most interesting fact…

The last day of the 83rd Regular Session for the Texas legislature is fast approaching, on Monday May 27, 2013. If a bill is not passed by the House and Senate by then, it will have to wait until the next session starting January 13, 2015. The last day the governor can sign or veto […]

Children’s Act to Transform Services for At-Risk Kids: Bill 25 Touches All Aspects of Government Services for Alberta Youth, Edmonton Journal Human Services Minister Dave Hancock introduced the Children First Act on Tuesday, a new law that will touch every program or service the Alberta government provides to children and families at risk. Bill 25 initiates […]

National Juvenile Defender Center releases Trial Manual for Defense Attorneys in Juvenile Delinquency Cases Schaible Children to Get Court Ordered Medical Care, The Philadelphia Enquirer Herbert and Catherine Schaible’s seven [remaining] children were placed in temporary foster care after the couple told police they did not bring their 8-month-old, Brandon, to a doctor when he […]

Another Chance for Mone’t: Program Keeps Troubled New York Youth Close to Home, The New York Times . . . the premise behind Close to Home . . . Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law a year ago. Adolescents from New York City committing acts of delinquency — turnstile jumping, obstructing justice, fighting — […]

More Harm Than Good: Exempt Youth Sex Offenders from Registration Laws, Human Rights Watch Harsh public registration laws often punish youth sex offenders for life and do little to protect public safety, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. A web of federal and state laws apply to people under 18 who have […]

Is 100 Years a Life Sentence? Opinions are Divided, New York Times If people who are too young to vote commit crimes short of murder, the Supreme Court said in 2010, they should not be sentenced to die in prison. That sounds straightforward enough. But there are two ways to understand the decision, Graham v. Florida. One […]

Juvenile Court Records Could be Sealed, The Seattle Times As prime sponsor of House Bill 1651, I [Rep. Ruth Kagi D-Seattle] was disappointed to see The Seattle Times editorial assert that HB 1651 is unconstitutional [“Editorial: Don’t seal all juvenile-court records,” Opinion, April 22]. Until 1977, all juvenile records were closed to the public without any […]

High Court Says State Improperly Requested Medical Records in Truancy Case, Omaha.com Lisa Siefker has spent two years fighting to get her teenage autistic son to attend school regularly after he violated Nebraska’s controversial truancy law. But the 41-year-old Lincoln woman’s willingness to cooperate reached a limit when state officials overseeing the case wanted to […]

Contact Us

Center for Children, Law & Policy (CCLP)
Southwest Juvenile Defender Center (SWJDC)
Director Ellen Marrus, J.D., LL.M.,
George Butler Research Professor of Law
University of Houston Law CenterEMarrus@uh.edu